Argumentative Essay On College Life Task

Argumentative Essay On College Life

Task

In this paper you will take on an issue tied to our course readings and argue for a position. You will use your experience and our course readings to help you develop an academic argument--the type of argument where you show both sides.

Some things that you could focus your piece on are:

? High schools prepare, or do not prepare, students for success in life and in college. ? High school instruction helps, or does not help, people think for themselves. ? Schools, in general, are, or are not, in trouble in the United States. ? Teachers need to give student more, or less, of a voice in the classroom and how it functions.

Role

You will be writing a piece to try to convince your fellow students of a given point. You need to keep in mind that you must do the following: bring up good opposing arguments, refute those arguments, and then use quotations from our work and your research to prove your point.

Requirements

This will be a MLA or APA formatted paper, and it should 4-6 pages long. Use a standard 12-point font, and make sure that everything is double-spaced. It should include at least two sources from our readings. This piece must have a works cited page, which we will go over in class.

Assessment

See attached rubric.

Hints

? Create a thesis and subtopics as soon as possible and go over them with Chris or our tutor. ? Pay close attention when we go over strategies for structuring this paper. ? Make sure to look at Starting Lines for ideas about how to do this sort of paper. ? Make sure to read the sample papers on the website for the class. ? Do not procrastinate--start writing as soon as you can. ? When you edit your piece, make sure that you read it aloud. Also, read the paper backwards and

forwards--we'll go over what this means

Due Dates

First Draft: 2/6/07

Second Draft: 2/13/07

Possible Topics

What are listed below are some possible topics that you can focus your paper one. You can choose one of these, but I encourage you to come up with your own ideas on the topic of school. However, if you are at a loss for what to write about, then look at the three topics below.

Topic One: Students Need a Voice in Their Education

Using Paulo Freire's "The Banking Concept of Education," Kathleen Cushman's "Going Beyond the Classroom," and your own experience, argue for a need for students to have the opportunity to move out of what Freire calls "banking" education towards "problem posing" education.

In your paper quote from all sources and use specific examples from your experience as a student to back up your position. Also, be sure to bring in opposing ideas to your paper.

Topic Two: Contemporary Schools are in Crisis

Using Jonathan Kozol's "Life on the Mississippi: East St. Louis, Illinois", Alissa's Quart's "Schools for Sale", and your own experience, argue for the position that something (which you determine) has to change in the ways our schools function.

Be specific about the change you want to see occur, and be sure to back up your premise with citations from the text and your experience. Also, be sure to bring in opposing ideas to your paper.

Topic Three: Teachers Need to Listen to their Students More to be Better Teachers

Using Paulo Freire's "The Banking Concept of Education," Kathleen Cushman's "Going Beyond the Classroom," Brendan Halpin's "Prologue" and "Prehistory", and your own experience, argue for the need for teachers to modify their teaching based on their students' needs and interests.

Be specific about what teachers, and students, should do to make this sort of "learner centered" teaching possible, and make sure that you quote from the text and use specific experiences from your life to make your point. Also, be sure to bring in opposing ideas to your paper.

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